How Mark Zuckerberg Shut Down Troll Who Called Facebook's 'Donate' Button For Ebola Marketing Stunt

[uppityperson]

http://www.businessinsider.in/How-Mark-Zuckerberg-Shut-Down-A-Troll-Who-Called-Facebooks-Donate-Button-For-Ebola-A-Marketing-Stunt/articleshow/45064678.cms

How Mark Zuckerberg Shut Down A Troll Who Called Facebook's 'Donate' Button For Ebola A Marketing Stunt

Earlier today, Facebook announced the launch of a "Donate Now" button on people's News Feed to let them give money to one of three charities: International Medical Corps, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, or Save the Children.

Facebook will also be providing internet and voice-calling access to aid workers in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. In the comments section of Mark Zuckerberg's post about the initiative, though, a Facebook user accused the company of simply launching the button as a marketing stunt:

Zuckerberg had a great response:

Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, committed $25 million to fight Ebola on Oct. 14.

https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10101696761533081?notif_t=notify_me

Priscilla and I are donating $25 million to the Centers for Disease Control Foundation to help fight Ebola.
The Ebola epidemic is at a critical turning point. It has infected 8,400 people so far, but it is spreading very quickly and projections suggest it could infect 1 million people or more over the next several months if not addressed.
We need to get Ebola under control in the near term so that it doesn't spread further and become a long term global health crisis that we end up fighting for decades at large scale, like HIV or polio.
We believe our grant is the quickest way to empower the CDC and the experts in this field to prevent this outcome.
Grants like this directly help the frontline responders in their heroic work. These people are on the ground setting up care centers, training local staff, identifying Ebola cases and much more.
We are hopeful this will help save lives and get this outbreak under control.
To learn more about the fight against Ebola: http://www.cdcfoundation.org/ebola-outbreak

[LeftInTX]

1. Wow!!!

[uppityperson]

2. Yup

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Now, there's a couple who puts their money where their mouths are. Good for them. n/t

[alittlelark]

5. ???

[minipax]

6. Perfect

A donation of 25 million dollars on a fortune of 33 billion. That amounts to 1 dollar for every 1320 dollars that he owns. With my monthly income, that would be like giving away less than a dollar...

Now I'm all for giving to charity and fighting ebola. Very much! And yes, I do hope they raise a lot of money. But my worry is this:

The company is also donating 100 wireless hotspots to areas in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone where first responders are stationed. The hotspots will provide voice and data services to those on the ground, says Chris Weasler, head of spectrum policy and connectivity planning.

Facebook is also utilizing its ad technology to target specific users with educational materials about Ebola. For example, users in Sierra Leone will see explanatory messages from UNICEF, a United Nations relief organization, in their feed as part of an educational push, says Gleit.

http://recode.net/2014/11/06/facebook-prompts-users-to-donate-to-fight-ebola/

I'm strongly reminded of The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein...

[uppityperson]

7. What is wrong with educating people? Odd that you would worry about that.